Caught

Chapter 2

The next morning, she had expected to find Gray Fullbuster outside her apartment waiting for her. To her surprise, he wasn't there. He wasn't anywhere actually. When she had gone to school, she had expected to see everywhere like she had done for the past couple of months – not that she was looking for him or anything.

She thought she had been let off the hook when she reached Fairy Tail Café, but that had not been the case when she left after her shift and was greeted by the same sight as last night.

"You came out later today," he said as she walked towards him.

"It's Friday," she replied. "On Fridays, it's my turn to close the café."

She didn't understand why she had to explain herself, but she did.

"Any other day you close?" he asked as he pushed himself off the wall.

She put her finger on her chin in thought. "Sometimes Saturdays, but that's only if Levy-chan can't."

He nodded.

She wanted to ask him why he had been waiting for her, but decided not to, not like she had the guts to do so anyways.

The next couple of days, the same routine would follow. She would go home and then go to work, and he would wait for her until her shift was over. Sometimes he would go inside to eat, but most of the time he simply waited for her outside.

He frequented so much, Juvia had given him the nickname "Gray-sama" and soon it caught on with the other maids. Luckily for her, Lucy never waited on any of his tables.

After much debate, she finally asked him, "Kaichou, why do you always wait for me?"

"I can't have a girl walking home alone, even more so when she lives on the other side of the city."

She nodded slowly as a small blush crossed her cheeks. The small smile that formed on her lips didn't go unnoticed by him.

"What are you smiling at?" he asked with a scowl.

She shook her head. "Nothing, it's just that kaichou always seems so cold, but in reality you're really nice."

The tips of his ears turned a dark red as he started walking faster. "S-shut up."

She giggled. Who knew he could also look so cute.

Back at her school, people seemed to notice the change between the Ice Prince and Princess Lucy Heartfilia. Whenever the two crossed one another in the hallways, she would give him a small smile before going back to talking to her friends and his expression would soften just the slightest.

At first it went unnoticed by everyone, but as the days passed the two grew closer and couldn't help interacting more in school.

Their walks had turned into something for her to look forward to and even more so because she was allowed to ask one question a day about him. She did, however, avoid asking why he had not reported her that first day. She felt that by doing so, she would destroy the small budding friendship blooming between the two.

"All right, my turn," he said bringing her out of her thoughts. "Why a maid café?"

She rolled her eyes. "I didn't know it was a maid café," she replied nudging him.

"Sure you didn't," he replied in the same manner.

The two laughed at their childish antics before a voice from behind called out to her.

"Lucy-san?"

The two turned around and found Yukino Aguria, her classmate, looking at them with doe eyes.

"Yukino-chan," she said, unsure of what else to say. "Hey."

"Why are you out?" she asked innocently. "I thought you couldn't go with us to sing karaoke because you had a lot of homework."

'Shoot!' she thought. 'I turned them down because a new shift had opened up tonight.'

While thinking of an excuse to say, Lucy almost missed Gray's following words.

"Sorry," she looked up at him. "I didn't think it was going to be problem to steal her away to go on a date tonight."

'WHAT!'

He put his arm around her shoulders and she forced herself to keep a straight face.

"If you wanted to go with your friends to go karaoke, you should have just said so," he said giving her a soft smile.

The rapid pace of her heart beating made it hard to say anything, so she simply looked down and mumbled out an apology.

"I'm sorry to have inconvenienced you, Aguria-san," he said turning to Yukino.

"Y-you didn't!" she exclaimed. "I-I just didn't know that Lucy-san and Kaichou w-were together."

"I hope you don't mind keeping this a secret," he said as he brought Lucy closer. "I wouldn't want anyone else to know yet."

Lucy couldn't look at Yukino in the eye and simply kept her face hidden in his chest.

When Yukino nodded and wished them a goodnight, he finally let go off her. He looked down when she didn't move away and noticed her whole face a deep red.

"S-sorry," she said when she noticed him staring and pulled away.

"I-it's okay," he said before offering his hand to her.

When she didn't take it and blushed even harder, he said, "Just in case someone else passes by."

She nodded put her small hand on top of his larger one.

What a mistake that had been.

The next day, they found out Yukino hadn't been the only one that had seen them that night. When Lucy had been asked to give some papers to him, she had asked why. The reply was nice, simple and to the point.

"Because you and kaichou are dating."

She simply stared at them wide eyed and her mouth hanging open, trying to put words together. Taking her silence and shock as a sign of getting caught, the papers were left at her desk and she couldn't do anything but walk towards the Student Council room and deliver the papers herself.

Before she could even knock on the door, it opened and the face of the person she was looking for appeared.

"Fullbuster-senpai!"

"Heartfilia-san," he said with wide eyes. "I was going to look for you."

"Well, here I am," she said warily.

It seemed as if every pair of eyes in the school was looking directly at them. She looked down at the papers in her hand before pushing them towards him.

"I-I was told to give these to you!"

"T-thanks," he said taking them in his hands.

"Well, I-I'll see you later," she said and dashed away from him.

When she was in a good distance away, she slowed down and placed a hand on her beating heart. This was not what she needed right now.

"Ne, Lucy-san, is Gray-sama your boyfriend?" asked Juvia as they changed from their work attire into their regular clothes.

"H-huh!" she exclaimed almost ripping her scarf in two.

"Juvia has noticed that Gray-sama always comes on days that Lucy-san works," she explained as she put on her long coat.

"I-I think that's just coincidence," replied the blonde as she wrapped her scarf around her neck.

"Except it's not," said Levy from behind as she put on her short boots. "I've seen you two walk home together before," she said with a wink.

"L-Levy-chan!"

"Really?" asked a surprised Juvia. "Juvia didn't know Lucy-san was so daring…"

"A-am not!" she replied before closing her locker. "W-whatever, I have to go anyway. Bye guys!"

"Bye," they waved to her as she left through the back door.

When the door closed, Juvia sighed lightly. "Looks like Juvia will have to give up on Gray-sama."

"J-Juvia-san!" exclaimed Levy almost falling forward as she tied her shoes. "D-Don't you have a boyfriend?"

The taller blue-haired woman giggled. "Yes, but that doesn't mean that Juvia couldn't admire Gray-sama."

Levy sighed lightly before shaking her head with a smile. "Poor, Lyon-san."

The girls laughed together.

"Sorry for making you wait long," said Lucy as she met Gray at the foot of the door to her class.

He shrugged.

"It's okay, I'm used to waiting for you," he replied giving her one his rare smiles.

She felt herself blush a dark crimson as the people in her class stared at them, she swore she could feel hearts blooming around them.

He nodded for her to follow him and so she did.

"So," she said as she avoided looking anywhere but him. "Where are we going today to eat lunch?"

"Near the fountain," he replied nonchalantly.

"W-where everyone can see us?"

"Sure, after all, we are 'dating,' right?"

She pouted. "T-that's sly, Gray-senpai"

He laughed at her expression gaining the attention of the students passing by. "Why thank you, Lu-chan."

Her face darkened with color. "D-don't call me that," she said as she walked faster.

"Why not?" he asked matching her pace easily.

She pouted once more. "Because that's what they call me at Fairy Tail," she said in a low voice. "And it's just weird," she continued.

"Then what do you want me to call you?"

She thought for a minute.

"Lucy."

He gave her a small smirk. "Daring aren't we?"

"S-shut up!" she replied walking faster.

He chuckled and followed right behind her, not caring about the stares they were receiving.

"Hey, Luce," said Natsu as he peeked from behind the curtains. "Are you sure he's not your boyfriend?"

Lucy almost dropped the tray of food she was holding. "H-have you been eavesdropping to Juvia-san and Levy-chan's conversations again?"

"If they talk while waiting for their orders, it's not eavesdropping," he turned to her. "Is he?"

"No," she sighed dejectedly, something Natsu caught on. "He's the Student Council President."

"Then why is he here?"

"Because he said he wouldn't be able to get a good night's sleep if he doesn't know I'm home safe and sound."

He narrowed his eyes. "I don't like him," he said as he stepped away from the curtain.

"Why not?" she asked.

"I don't know, something about him just pisses me off."

She rolled her eyes and went to attend to her table.

"Sorry for the wait, Master" she said with a small smile as she placed the day's specials on the table.

"Thank you, Lu-chan," replied her customer.

She smiled and walked towards the entrance of the café where the cashier was placed. She turned around and observed the café. It was another peaceful day at the café, the only difference today was that a rather rowdy group of boys was there.

They didn't seem to cause any trouble and mostly kept to themselves, although every once in a while they did look like they wanted to cause some form of chaos. She stayed clear of that group, not because they scared her, but because they looked oddly familiar. It didn't help that they kept staring at her weirdly. The good thing was that she wasn't waiting on their table, although she did feel pity for poor Levy who was.

"Everything okay?" asked Gray in a low voice when she put down his coffee after making her rounds. It had been decided among the waitresses that today would be the day Lucy would serve Gray since the others had no empty seating.

She nodded and gave him a smile. "Yeah."

He eyed the group of teenagers a couple of tables away. "No trouble?"

She shook her head and said, "None, but if there is, you'll be the first to know."

"Lu-chan! Can I get a Sky Sorceress Smoothie?"

"Right away, Master!" she replied before making her way to the back of kitchen.

Gray narrowed his eyes as the group spoke too low for him hear as their eyes followed Lucy.

'I have a bad feeling,' he said as he felt his stomach constrict.

"I've been thinking," she said as they walked to the train station. "Or rather, my father has…that maybe we should move from our apartment."

"How come?" he asked, both his hands inside his coat's pocket.

"He feels that the rent is too much and perhaps we would be doing better if we didn't live somewhere so high up."

"What about school?" he asked eyeing her warily.

She shrugged her shoulders.

"It wouldn't be a problem, soon after the fall of the company, I was offered a scholarship because of my grades."

He rolled his eyes goodheartedly. "Of course you did, Miss Perfect."

She nudged him playfully. "You should be one to talk."

The two laughed at one another's antics before they were abruptly interrupted by a voice behind them.

"Well, well, well," the two turned around to see a guy with a devious smirk. "If it isn't Heartfilia-hime and Kaichou."

Lucy looked him up and down, feeling as if she had seen him before.

"Jackal-san," she heard Gray say. "Do you need to something?"

Ah, now she remembered. Her friends at school had warned her about Jackal-senpai from class 3-5. He was known as a troublemaker, last she heard, he had been suspended from school because he had set a garbage can on fire.

"Not at all, kaichou, at least not from you," he replied before he took out his phone. "Heartfilia-hime, on the other hand, is another thing."

Gray stepped in front of Lucy, trying to put as much distance between the two. "What do you need with my girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend?" repeated Jackal with a laugh. "I thought those rumors were fake, but if that's the case," he said as he looked for something on his phone. "Then I guess maybe it does have something to do with you," he continued before showing them a picture on his phone.

The two froze in place. They couldn't believe it, the onetime Lucy had decided to serve Gray at her part-time job, it would the onetime she would get caught. The picture depicted her as she served Gray his coffee and he smiled up at her.

"You see a couple friends of mine were at this maid café and they swore they saw the Lucy Heartfilia serving Kaichou. Now, I didn't believe them," he said putting on a sincere expression. "So I asked them for proof." His expression changed to one with malice. "And what do you know. Those idiots were right."

Gray moved more to the side to cover Lucy from view. "What do you want?" he asked once more through gritted teeth.

"Nothing really," replied Jackal with a sarcastic smile. "Just…as kaichou, aren't you supposed to enforce the rules?"

"Meaning?"

"Shouldn't you also enforce the rules when it comes to your 'girlfriend?'"

Gray tensed. "Your point?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"I wonder how the Headmaster will respond when he sees this," continued Jackal as he looked at the picture. "You know, I didn't know kaichou had this sort of kink," he said with a sadistic smile.

"Why you-!"

"-Gray-senpai, stop," said Lucy as she held onto his arm. "What is that you want, Jackal-senpai?"

"You. I want you to be my girlfriend."

"And if I refuse?"

"This picture gets sent to everyone in the school."

Lucy bit her lip in thought as she went over the scenarios and consequences that came up in her head. After a while she answered, "All right." She let go of Gray's arm and started walking towards Jackal.

"You can't be serious, Lucy," he said reaching and grabbing her arm.

"If I don't, you can have your position as kaichou revoked," she said. "I'll be fine." She gave him a small reassuring smile.

"But-!"

"Thank you, Gray-senpai," she said as she stood up on her tippy toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "But I think I've given you enough trouble as it is."

He could have stopped her if he wanted to, but he didn't. The moment she had been out of his reach, he felt his energy leave him. That was it? This was the end?

He felt hollow without her by his side, he had gotten used to her constant presence beside him. As he watched her leave with Jackal, he felt as if there was something in him that was being ripped apart. He watched as Jackal put his arm around her shoulders, he couldn't help the annoyed sigh that escaped his lips as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

"Damn it!" he growled before turning his back towards them and walking back home.

His mood hadn't gotten better the next morning, it didn't help that he had heard someone say he and Lucy had "broken up." Everyone in the Student Council kept their distance and made as little noise as possible as the dark cloud over his head grew and grew. He wanted to go and talk to her – and he did! But whenever he passed by, she was not in class and he didn't want to ask Yukino where she was in school, he didn't want to cause her more trouble than he already did.

A week passed by and he resisted the urge to go to her house and ask how she was doing. The good thing was that it was midterm week, so all his thoughts and efforts were put into his studying. Sadly that only lasted one week, and he was back to worrying about her.

He had seen Jackal around the school and each time he would give him a glare as they crossed one another, but Gray kept his mouth shut, he couldn't risk having that picture being sent to everyone in the school and administration.

When the results were posted, a small smile graced his lips.

He had placed first, again, no surprise there.

He walked towards the left where the underclassmen scores had been posted up. If he remembered correctly, she always placed first as well. He was surprised to see that she had, in fact, not placed first. A small frown crossed his features as he searched for her name through the list until he reached the end.

It wasn't there. He started to become worried. Had that idiot Jackal actually published that picture and had gotten her expelled? No, then he would have heard about it from somewhere in the hallways. Then again, he had been keeping a low profile and avoided leaving his classroom and the Student Council room unless necessary.

He shook his head.

If she had gotten expelled, the rumors would still have spread like wildfire, the news would have reached him one way or another. He waited until lunch to walk to her classroom and check up on her. He had decided that his excuse had to do with being Student Council President, not as her "ex-boyfriend."

He opened the door and motioned for Yukino to come over.

"Sorry to bother you, Aguria-san," he said apologetic. "I was wondering if I could borrow Lu – Heartfilia-san, for a moment."

"Kaichou, you didn't hear?" she replied with sad eyes.

His heart stopped. "Hear what?"

"Lucy-san transferred schools last week."

"D-did she say why?"

She shook her head. "I'm afraid not."

He felt hollow. "I – thanks," he said before turning around and going back to his class.

So she had left, but whether it was on her own or not, he didn't know. He wished, though, he had gotten her phone number during one of the times they hung out, but to be fair there was never a need to do so, they saw each other every day.

"K-kaichou!" Yukino called to him.

"Yes?" he asked turning around a little too quickly to his liking.

"I-I could give you the name of her new school if you'd like…"

"A-are you sure?"

Yukino nodded. "I'm sure Lucy-san would have wanted you to know. I know it's not any of my business to meddle in, but even though she had said the two of you had broken up, she didn't look like she wanted to. I don't know the whole story, but I know that Lucy-san and Kaichou looked extremely happy when you two were together."

Gray stood there stunned. He wasn't sure what to say.

"Thank you, Aguria-san."

Yukino smiled and quickly wrote down the name of Lucy's new school in a piece of paper.

"Lucy-san said she didn't want everyone to know where her new school was, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind this exception," she said handing him the small paper.

Gray looked at the small paper for a brief second and smiled. "Thanks again, Aguria-san."

As he walked away, there was a bounce in his step that didn't go unnoticed of by him or the people around him. He would go see her after school.

The bell ran and Lucy stood up with the class and bowed to their teacher. When the teacher left, she packed up her things in her bag with a smile.

Although she was sad that she had left behind all of her friends at her previous school, she felt happier here. There was no need to keep appearances and there were no strict rules about a part time job. Quite the contrary it was welcomed since it allowed students to gain real work experiences at their perspective jobs.

"Ready to go, Lu-chan?" asked Levy.

"Yep, I just need to turn in my application for the school paper before we leave," replied Lucy with a smile.

"I'm surprised you decided to change schools in the middle of the semester."

"To be fair, my father and I knew it was bound for me to transfer to a new school, but waiting for the end of the year would cause more trouble than it was worth."

Levy nodded as she followed Lucy out the classroom and into the busy hallway. "Does Gray-san know?"

Lucy bit on her lower lip for a moment. "Yeah…he knew," she said after a while. "He was the first person I told actually," she added before knocking on the door of the classroom where the school paper met.

"Excuse me," she said. "I'm here to turn in an application!"

The door opened and an older student looked down at her with her glasses. "Your name?" she asked.

"Lucy Heartfilia," replied the blonde.

The older student smiled. "Evergreen," she said taking the application from Lucy. "Next meeting is next week. Don't be late," she added with a smirk before closing the door.

Lucy turned to Levy. "That's…it?"

"Yeah," replied Levy as she started walking once more to the school entrance. "Not many people are interested in the school paper, so any application that is given is welcomed, no matter what position."

"That sucks," said Lucy frowning. When she saw the confused look Levy was giving her, she added. "In my old school, being part of the newspaper was a big thing. I guess it's a lot different here."

Levy nodded understanding. "Yeah, since there are only 3 other people in club, me included, we all divide the work among ourselves. Speaking of…are you sure you want to join a club that's very time consuming a little after your transfer?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, I feel like if I don't I'm missing out on a lot. Besides, it's the easiest way to make friends," she gave Levy a bright smile. "Now that I don't have to take the train from home, I can get better hours at the café."

"Lu-chan, don't try to spread yourself too thin," said Levy worried. "You don't want to overwork yourself."

"I won't, if I'm being honest I'm mostly doing it to distract myself."

"From what?"

"…"

Levy stopped walking and looked back. "Lucy?"

"…Gray-senpai."

Levy looked at her confused. "You're joining a bunch of clubs because you want to forget Gray-san?"

Lucy didn't seem to have heard her best friend. The only thing she was focused on was the older teenager as he leaned against her new school's entrance. His dark hair was as messy as the last time she remembered and his ever present frown was directed at his phone as he typed away at something.

His distinct school uniform made the other students gawk at him in wonder, but his sole focus at the moment was his phone. Why was a student from such a prestigious school waiting outside their school? Who was he meeting?

As Lucy stood gaping at him from a couple of feet away, he finally looked up from his phone and looked directly at her. She didn't know what to do. She thought about running, but there was no reason for her to run. She finally closed her mouth a slowly approached him. Levy followed her path and let a soft "oh" before saying a quick goodbye and leaving the two alone.

Whether Lucy heard her or not, she wasn't sure as Lucy as so entranced by the raven haired teenager.

"Hey," he said putting his phone away.

"Hi," she said almost breathlessly. She cleared her throat a bit. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Aguria-san told me where to find you," he answered nonchalantly.

"I-I can see that," she said gesturing to him standing in front of her. "But…why?"

He shrugged. "I don't know…I needed to know you were all right."

She felt a small pang in her heart. "You don't have to worry yourself about my safety, I'm fine," said before walking away.

"Lucy, wait," he said catching her wrist.

She looked back at him, waiting.

A couple of moments passed, his hand still holding on to her. "I'm sorry," he said after a while.

"…what?"

"I said I'm sorry," he said clearer. "I shouldn't have let Jackal blackmail you that way."

She adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder. "It's fine. It wasn't your fault."

She slowly pulled her hand back and he let her. She was about to walk away, but then the question that had kept nagging all those weeks ago popped back up.

"Why didn't you do it?" she asked him. He looked at her confused. "Why didn't you report me after finding out about my part time?"

He looked away, his face heating up slowly in the process. He quietly said his response, but the sound of students exiting school made it hard to hear.

"I'm sorry…what?"

He took in a deep breath, as if to brace himself. He stood up straighter and said, "Because I like you, Lucy."

Her brain slowly processed though words. He. Liked. Her. Why?

"W-what?" she said taking a step back in surprise. "Y-you like me?" Her cheeks reddened as she repeated his words. "W-what do you mean you like me?"

"It means what it means!" he said stepping closer, his gaze solely focused on her. "I. Like. You."

His words were so soft she was she would miss them had he not been that close to her. The two stayed close to one another, unable to move away from there.

"Lucy?"

"Hmm?" she hummed, her eyes lost in his.

"Do-do you like me, too?" he asked hesitantly.

She gave him a small smile before closing the short distance between them. "Of course I like you, you big idiot," she replied as she wrapped her arms around him.

For that moment, she didn't care if anyone saw, she was just happy. All those moments her heart beat faster and her disappointment when she didn't get to see him, she wasn't stupid. She wrote love stories in her free time, it was only natural she liked him.

In a way, she was glad that he had caught her working that day.

I know it is long overdue, but I finally managed to write the last and final chapter to this short story. Although most of it had been written along with the first chapter, I was not able to find the right ending, or rather the ending that satisfied me the most.

Thank you all so much for your patience, and please don't forget to review!

~Karie